Ross was played by Harbaugh who had no intention of coming here if he wanted to stay married as his wife was adamantly against a relocation. Beyond that, this SB scenario worked out just like Harbaugh had hoped (well at least til the end) as he surely didnt want to have to play his brother for a conference championship for the right to advance to the SB. Factor in the likelihood he had no desire to compete in Belicheat's division and the probability of Jim Harbaugh landing here was between non-existent and nil.
That's not to say that fledgling owner Ross didn't screw up by letting Harbaugh dupe him into using the Fins as extra leverage with the 49ers.. or look stoopid along the way doing so. He did. But by the same token, while I think he also screwed up by pursuing Coach Mediocre after he was kicked to the curb finally by Bud Adams in TN, his instincts proved to be right pursuing Harbaugh. Likewise, harkening back to a debate we had, Ross's instincts were right in stepping in to stop the Orton signing folly. He apparently knew what many of us here did and almost all the Broncos County board members did about "3 and out Orton." So Ross gets props for that (while Ireland and probably even more so Morono receive demerits).